Romeo and Juliet || Carlos Sainz

The elevator

The plane ride had been pretty rough for y/n. She used to travel, she did it for work but also because she liked it, however, that trip was awful for her and she couldn't wait to get to the hotel room and stay in the bathtub at least half an hour, without anyone disturbing her for the next few hours.
Y/n loved her job, she worked as an engineer for Redbull Racing. She had grown up with cars as her father, Christian Horner, the current Redbull team manager, who was a Formula 1 driver many years ago.
Enrolling at engineering university and landing in Formula 1 was a logical and natural path for her, but she never thought she had made the wrong choice. Whenever she went to work and heard the roar of the engines, she felt at home. Working tirelessly to get ready for the race weekend was her main goal, she would never go home if the preparatory work in the office was not ready.
She often worked late with her father and with the pilot she had been assigned that year, Max Verstappen, the 2021 Word Champion. When her father told her she would be the his engineer, she hugged him, and this didn't happen very often, since the relationship with her father could be defined as one of love-hate.

That evening, y/n had arrived at the hotel with her father and once they had taken the keys, they had headed to their respective rooms. Y/n had thrown on the floor the suitcase that accompanied her during every weekend all around the world, she had taken off her clothes, and as planned, she had prepared a nice bath.
After losing track of time, y/n decided to get dressed, dry her hair and go upstairs where her father was waiting for her to have dinner together. They called the room service as they continued to work on the strategy to be implemented for Max. 

The 2022 Formula 1 season had just begun and they had to push as much as they could to allow Max winning the second world championship. Because of this, y/n and her father never stopped working and perfecting everything.
Y/n had met Max many years ago when he first joined Redbull in 2016 but their relationship was purely professional, despite being almost the same age. Max, in fact, was 24 years old, while y/n was 26. After the various meetings, Max had asked y/n a couple of times to go to dinner together and y/n had accepted, more for a professional reason than for a actual pleasure towards Max.

"It's almost midnight, you'd better go to sleep, y/n." Christian said with his usual cold and detached tone towards her.
"Yes, I think everything is ready for tomorrow" said y/n getting up from the chair and closing her McBook. She left the room greeting her father from afar and went to the elevator to return to her room, but from a distance she had already seen a boy waiting for the elevator aswell.
Y/n extended her hand to press the button and the boy did the same.
Their fingers touched for a moment.

"I'm sorry," he said with a hint of a smile.

"Don't worry," said y/n, looking immediately away. It was not long when the elevator arrived and they both entered it in total silence.
"Are you here to visit the city?" the boy asked suddenly; y/n winced because she was distracted, she was thinking of further improvements to be made to Max's tire strategy.
"No, it's a business trip" she replied absently.  He looked at her for a moment, then looked away.
"Yes, I'm here for work too" he said as if to answer a question that y/n had never asked him. The lift went down and silence returned again in that little space. Then the doors opened on the y/n floor and she went out the elevator.

"My name is Carlos, by the way" he raised the tone of his voice to be heard by y/n, which was already out of the elevator and almost near her room.
"I know who you are" replied y/n turning to him "I work with Mr. Horner for the Redbull" although her body retreated, y/n's gaze remained locked to Carlos's, who had put his hand on the sensor of the lift to keep the doors open.
"So we are enemies?" he asked smiling.
"Exactly. Good luck for this weekend." Y/n turned around and opened the door.
Carlos moved his hand away from the sensor letting the doors close, then he moved until his back was against the wall. He thought about her answer but also he thought about her eyes. Suddenly Carlos had the impression that he had made a big mistake.